No Game No Life, Vol. 1

by Yuu Kamiya

  “…Just…seven more years…”

  —They say girls mature emotionally faster than boys. Indeed…in this case, at least, that was an incontrovertible fact.

  ………

  “Ohhh, Goood, ohhhhh, Goooood!”

  Meanwhile, Steph, walking through the corridors of the castle with rigid shoulders. Furious at having been called a mere jack-off toy—no. At herself for being hurt by that—she screamed indiscriminately.

  “Ohhh, God, I knew it, this feeling is an illusion brought on by the covenant—it’s a manner of curse!”

  —But Steph didn’t notice.

  “That beast! That pedophile! There’s no way I should love him. It must be the covenant.”

  —That Sora had suggested releasing her from the covenant—that is. The solution of playing another game and saying, “Don’t love me.” And she’d ignored it completely, and even forgotten about it.

  And what that meant—

  EPILOGUE

  —Presence Chamber, Elkia Royal Castle. On the single throne sat two, playing a DSP game. A black-haired young man in jeans and an “I ♥ PPL” T-shirt, with the queen’s tiara wrapped around his arm. A white-skinned, long-haired girl with red eyes in a black sailor suit, with the king’s crown tying up her hair. In fact—they were this country’s king—Sora—and queen—Shiro—the siblings.

  “I’m telling you, we’re going naked and you’re setting off traps? That’s ridiculous.”

  “…For efficiency.”

  “If you want efficiency, then why are we playing naked? Let’s play for real, d00d!”

  “…That would just…waste time; it wouldn’t be…fun.”

  They’d brought a large volume of games to this world. But they were all games they’d literally maxed out. Which meant it was questionable whether they were even good for killing time. But there was a reason they were killing time. It was—

  “I’m—done changing…”

  Hearing her voice, the two immediately sleeved their game and took out their phones. The one who had appeared was a beautiful girl with auburn hair and features suggesting refinement—but. Wearing a maid outfit that was just revealing enough—not excessively tacky. Stephanie Dola…the blood kin of the previous king, former royalty—and now…

  To Steph, appearing with her face bright red, Sora nevertheless asked:

  “Mm? Is it revealing enough to blush over?”

  “…I didn’t let her wear underwear…”

  “C-could you not spell that out?!”

  The cry of Steph.

  —Indeed. These two leaders were exploring the boundaries of R-18. Seeing herself a slave of love—no, probably by now no more than the plaything of the two. Steph looked up at the ceiling in self-hatred.

  “Ahh, the obviously not wearing any effect so prevalent in two-dimensional imagery.”

  “…Mm…but it doesn’t quite do it.”

  “You’re right, Director. We can’t move frame by frame like in 2-D; it’s most inconvenient.”

  “…Should we strip her?”

  “Hmm, Steph. Can you show some more skin without showing your nipples or other juicy bits?”

  “Don’t call them juicy bits!”

  “…And then, pop.”

  “No. That’s not okay when she’s not wearing any, Director.”

  “…Don’t worry…I anticipated this—and used bandages.”

  “Umn……mng? Uh, well…hng? I don’t think that’s okay.”

  “…Then what about a very small swimsuit…not okay?”

  “—Hm, now that you mention it. But, Director, by that logic, it would be okay for her to be totally naked if she was wearing bandages.”

  “…Mmg…All Ages is hard.”

  —Then, reclining his back on the throne, Sora said in a small voice:

  “But then, no matter how close to the edge we record her, I’m never actually gonna get off, am I; instead, I’m just gonna get more and more frustrated…”

  But Shiro, her ears sharp enough to pick it up, said.

  “…I…don’t mind; go ahead.”

  “Hey, actually? Your brother isn’t an exhibitionist.”

  “…Don’t worry… I won’t look…just like at home.”

  “Hng? Wait, hold on there, I always waited until I saw you were asleep first!”

  “…Your rustling around…wakes me up.”

  “I can’t—were you always awake?!”

  Sora, holding his face, beet-red.

  “Omigawd! I’m, like, totally ruined now!”

  “…It’s okay. I’ll take damaged goods.”

  The sister comforted him, patting him on the shoulder.

  “And—then—”

  “If you’re totally ruined, what do you expect of me after you’ve made me go around like this!”

  Steph, who’d been meanwhile shaking her shoulders, shouted out, and then went on as if fed up.

  “And anyway, you make me handle the procedures for the coronation and the succession, you make me stay up through three nights, and then you call me out and it’s this; God, you’re high and mighty!”

  “…We are the monarch… The monarch…is high and mighty.”

  On Shiro’s quite reasonable words, Sora continued casually.

  “We’ve been up three days, too, you know. We can do two more or so, no problem.”

  “Playing games, right?!”

  “Yes, games. The job of the monarch, in this world.”

  “Hngk…”

  Indeed—in this world, where everything was decided by games—even national borders—being good at games was a condition for being a monarch, and it was justifiable to call this training.

  “Man… Here we can just play games all day and people call it a real job; this place is heaven.”

  At Sora’s burbling as if he had found Shangri-La, Steph shouted:

  “No, we don’t! You’ve got domestic affairs you should be taking care of!”

  “Mm? You finished the succession?”

  “Yes, I just did, before you called me!”

  “That’s what I was waiting for. I’m the type who likes to get the domestic affairs done all at once in Civ.”

  With that, he shifted Shiro aside and stood from the throne.

  “So—will you call the ministers?”

  Before the ministers who gathered in the Great Assembly Hall. Sora and Shiro, rising to the podium—. But they interrupted all kinds of reports to lay out:

  “I have something to tell you first.”

  Looking around at the faces of everyone, Sora—the king of the human race—spoke again, carefully.

  “As you all know, Immanity currently finds itself in a tight spot. Given that we mean to take the offensive, we have no room to look behind us. As such, to eliminate concerns for the future—we shall play rock-paper-scissors.”

  Swinging his open hand above his head, he announced in a ringing voice to the attentive ministers:

  “The wager is the state of being prohibited hereafter from making any false reports, including selective or manipulative communication of information… We shall play a game by the Covenants, and you shall intentionally lose to form a contract.”

  Taking advantage of the “absolutely binding” rule written in the Covenants by throwing a match.

  —With his face asking why no one had thought of something so simple, Sora spoke:

  “And, so, my good subjects, let us remember that the fate of the human race rests on our shoulders as we play this game—I shall throw scissors, and all of you shall throw paper; lose purposefully and prove your loyalty. Incidentally, if there be any among you who, slighting the powers of observation and memory of the siblings before you, has a mind to reject the setup and the contract, I suggest you leave now.”

  —Thus having warned them from trying to resist the covenant by pretending to lose, Sora sang out—

  “Aschente.”

  “—Aschente!”

  As the swearing of the contract echo
ed, they began their rock-paper-scissors. And, thus—the contract was concluded.

  “…So, then, let’s start with the Minister of Agriculture—your report.”

  “Your Majesty—our country is currently facing a dire situation in regard to food.”

  Listening to the explanation of the system of farming, its management, and allocation of taxes, etc. After it was all finished, Sora nodded once.

  “I have understood… Then implement the measures I shall henceforth state.”

  “…Yes, Sir.”

  “Regarding production—you shall introduce crop rotation.”

  “—Can you explain, Sir?”

  “On a single field, rotate in order between cultivating winter cereals such as wheat, root vegetables such as turnips and beets, summer cereals such as rye, and forage crops such as clover, which serve to restore the fertility of the soil. This will lead to decreased cropping of cereals, but increased cropping of root vegetables and legumes. In particular, introducing the cultivation of turnips and the like will resolve fodder shortages and enable livestock to be raised through the winter. Further, the soil-regenerative properties of the manure and the forage crops will eliminate the need to leave fields fallow.”

  Sora spouted it off as if it were obvious. All in presence could only stand speechless at the unbelievably revolutionary proposals of their king. Moreover—.

  “Keys to success in this plan shall be a concentrated labor force and gathering of scattered croplands into specific areas. These policies may put some small- and midscale farmers out of work, but production of food will improve by a factor of four or more. Implement these instructions with the highest priority.”

  He’d even pointed out the potential issues.

  “Wh-what about the budget?”

  “We shall issue bonds for purchase by banks—but please entrust this matter to the Minister of Economy.”

  “—A-as you wish, Sir.”

  “Next, we must address the unemployment resulting from this plan. Minister of Economy, Minister of Industry, your reports—”

  ……

  In this manner. Regarding the king who proposed groundbreaking reforms to solve all kinds of problems one after the other. In a meeting lasting only four hours. Among the ministers, it came to be whispered that he was the wisest king in human history.

  …Playing with the tablet he held, Sora said:

  “Man, I sure was right to download all those reference books for crazy study for quiz games.”

  On his tablet were over forty thousand books of an academic nature. From math, science, astronomy, physics, and engineering to medicine, history, and military tactics. Even data extracted and saved from that good old wiki professor—in other words, he had most of the knowledge of the human race in the early twenty-first century.

  “…Brother, you’re always so, shady… That’s cheating.”

  Though Shiro pointed this out, with her usual half-closed eyes, Sora knitted his brow.

  “Considering we’re in a world with an official cheat like magic, can you not call me a cheater just for introducing a little technology from another world? And, come on, these domestic affairs are kind of urgent, aren’t they.”

  …That said, introducing too much future technology at once could cause unexpected strains. To be honest, he did want to introduce “electrical engineering” sooner than later, but…

  “If we could just make cameras and mics, it would probably help some in fighting magic.”

  Their current situation, with only two phones with useless antennas, could hardly be seen as comfortable. Perhaps they should, after all, start looking for a way to contact the Flügel and—

  —Steph appeared softly in the Assembly Hall, still in her skin-baring maid outfit. That is—just as Shiro and Sora had made her dress and then left her.

  “……Sora—no. Y-Your Majesty…you have a visitor.”

  “Damn, you greeted a visitor in that getup? You’ve got guts.”

  “…Steph, amazing.”

  “If it’s okay for me to change, why didn’t you let me knooow! Wwaaaugh!”

  Covering his ears from the weeping scream of Steph, Sora waved his hand.

  “Ohh, yeah, sorry, sorry; so, go hurry up and fix yourself. Jeez, people are going to wonder about the quality of our country.”

  “People are going to wonder about the quality of your head!”

  However, without waiting for Steph’s guidance, a voice rang through the Assembly Hall.

  “Aha-ha-ha-ha, it seems like you’re having a lot of fun here!”

  Into the Great Assembly Hall, where Sora and Shiro, Steph, and the ministers were assembled. Tk, tk—walked a boy. Sora and Shiro recognized his face. It was unmistakable. He was the one—stretching his hands out of the computer—who had brought them into this world—

  “…Well, if it isn’t the so-called God. How’s it hanging?”

  “Oh, you. I’m not ‘so-called’; I am God.”

  Scratching his head, aha-ha, the boy spoke.

  “Come to think of it, I think I forgot to tell you my name—”

  “—Tet…that’s my name. It’s a pleasure, Blank.”

  Wham! As soon as the boy said, “Tet,” the atmosphere in the room changed. The impact of the holy name? Everyone except two (Shiro and Sora) found their pores opening and sweat blasting out. The ministers shook with faces drained of blood, Steph with a body on the verge of collapsing. Yet without his seeming to take a whit of notice of them.

  “What you think of my world? Does it tickle your fancy?”

  “Yeah, you’ve got a great aesthetic. Our God ought to take some lessons from you.”

  “…Nod, nod.”

  Watching Sora and Shiro talking smack, everyone around felt their hearts squeezed almost hard enough to rupture.

  —The one standing before them was the One True God—Tet. He who had the authority to erase the world on a whim and make a new one. However, Tet himself smiled back with no sign of concern.

  “I’m glad to hear it. So…it looks like the crisis to the survival of Immanity has been averted for now.”

  “Yep, just as you wanted.”

  Everyone made faces that said, Huh?

  “As if it just so happened that the nearest city just so happened to be the last human country, and it just so happened to be competing to decide the monarch…right. Come on, you’re not gonna try to tell me all that was a coincidence, are you?”

  To Sora’s brazen speech, the God replied with a joyful smile.

  “Aha-ha… But don’t get the wrong idea. My philosophy is basically to be an observer; I don’t support any particular race—but, yeah, I guess I’ll admit in this case I had some personal feelings involved.”

  The boy—Tet. Poutily kicking the ground as if bored, he said:

  “I wonder if you remember what I said…you know—that everything is decided by games in this world.”

  —Yeah. Sora grasped the intent behind his words and said it preemptively.

  “…I see. So even the throne of the One True God is decided by games.”

  “—Wha—”

  —Everyone around could only gasp this, except Shiro, who seemed impressed. And Tet alone smiled mirthfully and spoke.

  “That’s right! That’s why I made it so there are ‘sixteen seeds.’”

  With a clickeverything came together in Sora’s head. “Ixseeds”—the chessboard beyond the horizon—the God who said he lived over there. The number of pieces on one side of a chessboard—sixteen. Meaning.

  “…You rule over all the races as a champion—so there’s a challenge against the God on the table.”

  Tet smiled pleasantly and replied:

  “What a nimble mind you have. You’re so adaptable, it’s hard to believe you just came from another world.”

  “Well, thank you!”

  “I mean it. But even though I was looking forward to playing a game with my title as God at stake, I got stuck with thousands of years wi
th nothing to do. So, when I was wandering around another world, I happened to hear the rumors about you guys, Blank.”

  With a sense of excitement and deep interest, the God looked at Sora and Shiro and said:

  “You know, the rumors about the gamer always at the top of all kinds of games, which they were even starting to call an urban legend.”

  To God’s smile, Sora grinned back.

  “Hey, God, should you be smiling?”

  “Huh?”

  “You knew about us when you summoned us to this world. You knew our—Blank’s—policy: We always stand at the top of any game. Right?”

  “Yeah, of course.”

  And then the God grinned back.

  “That’s why I figured that you guys would definitely—come to win the right to challenge me.”

  Everyone around froze. It meant—to say nothing of the greatest country in the world—Elf, Rank Seven. They aimed even for Old Deus and Phantasma: for Rank One. Which meant—to conquer and control all the Ixseeds. It was no longer a question on the level of world conquest—

  “…So, God, let me ask you one more time. Should you be smiling?

  “Don’t you remember that you’ve lost to us once already?”

  —And, this time, truly, none could believe their ears.

  The God lost?

  To the mere humans here?

  But Tet laughed it off.

  “Heh-heh, I’m sure you’ve grasped this well already, but the games in this world are a whole different story from some online chess game in your world. It’s true that I lost to you siblings at ‘normal chess’—that’s why I summoned you here. But…next time, I’m not gonna lose!”

  With that, Sora and Shiro. Both siblings seeming to grasp something together. Looked at each other and smiled.

  “—Hey, God.”

  But God—answered genially:

  “Just call me Tet. What is it?”

  “Okay, Tet—you’d never lost before, had you?

  At that simple question. Tet’s smile thinned into an impudent grin.

  “The God of Play—lost for the first time. And he was so mad, so mad he couldn’t stand it. And so he summoned us to this worldto beat us ‘playing by this world’s rules this time.’ Am I right?”